Moda Fabrics Sweet Christmas Quilt - Downloadable PDF

Moda Fabrics Sweet Christmas Quilt – Free Downloadable PDF Pattern Summary

About This Pattern

The Moda Fabrics Sweet Christmas Quilt is a free downloadable PDF quilting pattern designed by Moda Fabrics (pattern number PS31150). The finished quilt measures a generous 60" x 72", making it a full lap or throw size — ideal as a holiday statement piece or a cozy seasonal gift. This is rated as an intermediate difficulty project, meaning it is well-suited to quilters who are comfortable with accurate cutting, diagonal cuts, and assembling pieced units, but it is not intended as a first-time quilting project.

What Is Being Made

This pattern produces a single pieced quilt featuring a dynamic, geometric design built from Half Rectangle Triangle (HRT) units. The HRT block construction creates a sense of movement and visual depth across the quilt surface, giving the finished piece a lively, modern-traditional aesthetic that suits a Christmas or winter holiday theme. The quilt incorporates a mix of colorful print fabrics set against a consistent light background, with spacer strips adding structure and visual rhythm to the overall layout.

Techniques Used

• Half Rectangle Triangle (HRT) unit construction – the primary piecing technique, where rectangles are cut once on the diagonal and then paired and sewn to create angled, mirrored units
• Diagonal cutting of rectangles – each 3" x 6" rectangle is cut once on the diagonal; all cuts must be made with fabrics right side up and in the same direction to avoid creating reversed or mirror-image units
• Strip piecing and strip joining – long spacer strips are created by joining two shorter strips end to end with pressed-open seams
• Offset and rotated unit assembly – HRT units are rotated and offset during construction to build the pieced background sections
• Accurate pressing – seams on joined spacer strips are pressed open for flat, precise results
• Stacking for efficient cutting – the pattern recommends stacking fabrics right sides up by color or print for speedier cutting, and pairing background and print rectangles before stitching to streamline the workflow
• Binding – the pattern includes binding instructions to finish the quilt edges

Stitches and Sewing Methods

• Standard straight stitch – used throughout for all piecing and joining of units and strips
• Quarter-inch seam allowance – the standard quilting seam allowance referenced throughout the pattern for precise unit sizing
• Pressed-open seams – specifically called for on the spacer strip joins to reduce bulk

Materials – Fabric and Notions

This pattern is designed for quilting cotton fabric and is compatible with Moda Kit 31150, which includes precut and prelabeled pieces. When making the quilt without the kit, the following fabrics are required:

• 24 fat quarters (chosen from 26) of assorted print fabrics – from each fat quarter, two 6" x 22" strips are cut, yielding 12 rectangles of 3" x 6" each, for a total of 288 print rectangles
• Light Background fabric (Moda fabric 31156-21) – cut into 21 strips of 6" x width of fabric (WOF), then into 288 background rectangles measuring 3" x 6"
• Spacer Fabric (Moda fabric 9900-200) – cut into 8 strips of 4½" x WOF, joined into four long strips of approximately 4½" x 89", then cut into a variety of specific spacer strip lengths ranging from 4½" x 10½" up to 4½" x 38½"
• Binding fabric – referenced in the pattern for finishing the quilt edges

As with all quilting projects, a rotary cutter, quilting ruler, and self-healing cutting mat are essential tools for achieving the accurate diagonal and straight cuts this pattern requires. A sewing machine with a reliable quarter-inch presser foot is strongly recommended.

Pattern Scale and Unit Count